Thirds to james w



(No Model.)

B. W. THOMP$0N.

TAG.

Patented Jan.30, 1883.

Wltqesses N. PETERS. Fhmlflhognphur. washin um u. C

UNITED STATES FFICE.

PATENT EDWARD W. THOMPSON, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TO JAMES W. BENNETT AND ALBERT M. MOORE, BOTH OF SAME PLAO E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 271,378, dated January30, 1883.

Application filed October 20, 1882. (No model.)

T 0 all whom. it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD W. THOMP- SON, acitizen of the United States, residing at Lowell, in the county ofMiddlesex and Common wealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Tags, of which the following is aspecification.

Myinvention relates more particularly to the wooden tags commonly usedin the'postal service as direction-labels on sacks containingnewspaper-mail, and to means of readily attaching said tags to anddetaching said tags from said sacks.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an isometric view of such atag with my improvement attached thereto. Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe same, the jaws being separated by a cord. Fig. 3 is a verticalcentral cross-section of the upper part of thejaws.

A is the. upper part of a wooden tag of the usual shape, except asmodified to suit myimprovemenl, as described below. These tags areprovided with a hole ordinarily, through which a piece ot'stout cord ispassed,and the tag is secured to a sack by tving said cord around the"puckering-stringofsaid sack. It is customary for postal clerks anddrivers of mail-wagons to haul and lift these sacks by grasping the tag,and the knot in the cord thereby becomes so hard that the knot is cut tosave time, thus causing a great waste of cord. To save time and cord Iapply my device to the tag. The diagonally-opposite corners of the tagare cut away, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and springs or spring-jaws B Bare riveted to the tag, so as to be flush with the edges and faces ofsaid tag, by means of rivets F, which extend through the tag and bothsprings, near the lower ends ofsaid springs,.the parts of the springs inwhich the rivets are placed being preferably as wide as the tags arethick. The upper ends of the springs B B are formed into jaws b I),respectively, long enough to lap by each other and to enter notches d din the tag. The jaws are cut or rounded in at c to contain the cord, andare beveled on top down toward their points, so that a cord pressed downupon the top of the jaws will force them outward and apart and allow thecord to enter the slot e, cut vertically in the top of the tag. Withstring :10 on the top of the jaws and forcing it into the slot 0, whenthe loop thus formed in the puckeringstring can readily be drawn throughthe slot. To avoid wear on the puckering-string or, the sharp edges ofthe jaws are rounded, as shown in Fig. 3. The corners not cut away atthe top of the tag afford a substantial side support for thejaws andprevent the stiif puckering-string from moving thejaws unequally andfrom moving thejaws apart laterally. Thejaws should be made ofspring-steel of such a quality and strength as to resist any straintending to bend or break them; but it will be seen that if onejaw werebroken the other would still be operative, al-

though it is deemed advisable to use twojaws.

I claim as my invention- 1. The tag A, provided with the slot 0, andhaving one or more corners cut away, as described, in combination with aspring-jaw, B, orjaws B B, attached to said tag, substantially as andfor the purpose specified.-

2. The tag A, provided with the slot 6, and having one or more cornerscut away, as described, in combination with one or more spring-jaws, BB, having beveled upper surfaces and being attached to said tag, as andfor the purpose specified.

8. The tag A, provided with the slot 6, and

having one or more corners cut away, as de-.

scribed, in combination with one or more spring-jaws, B B, beveled onthe upper surface and rounded in on the under surface and attached tosaid tag, as and for the purpose specified.

4:. The combination of the tag A, having a slot, 6, and having itsdiagonally-opposite corners cut away, as described, and a pair ofoverlapping springjaws, B B, said jaws being oppositely beveled on theirupper surfaces, and being attached to said tag, as and for the purposespecified.

EDWARD \V. THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

ALBERT M. MooRE, JAMES W. BENNETT.

